Luck isn’t on the side of this week’s Icarus nominees. Planes are getting grounded, cruise ships are changing course, bomb threats are being reported. Plus, we have a repeat offender and an airport stripper. Check out Lily J. Kosner’s roundup of this week in travel failures.
Strip and Smoke
One wrong turn serves another this week. A female traveler’s outburst has gone viral after she stripped down to the buff at gate B8I in Denver International Airport. According to airport spokeswoman Jenny Schiavone the woman began to shed her clothes after airport workers told her to put out a cigarette. The passenger was taken to local hospital for a medical evaluation and the Denver Police have decided against further investigation.
Aluminum Lady Sued
From the lawsuit filed this week by American Airlines against Gailen David
Notorious Icarus nominee, the Aluminum Lady, aka Gailen David, is getting a second chance to win our award. This week American Airlines filed a lawsuit against David. The suit didn’t mention David’s web videos and instead targeted his website, DearSkySteward.com, which published personal flight information for airline executives and improperly used the trademarked language “AA.” David was named alongside 10 “John Doe” defendants for breach of duty, conspiracy and trade infringement. In a statement to the press, American Airlines spokesman Bruce Hicks noted, “This lawsuit is designed to identify and hold legally accountable those employees who have and who continue to provide private and confidential passenger travel information and personal employee information to former employee Gailen David for publication on his commercial websites.” Never one to stay silent, David has been speaking out in the press stating that the lawsuit will not deter him from further exposing executive mismanagement.
Titanic Turnaround
A cruise designed to recreate the route of the Titanic hit its own metaphorical iceberg when it was forced to turn back to toward the Irish coast on Tuesday. A sick passenger, believed to be BBC cameraman Tim Rex, was airlifted off the MS Balmoral and the Titanic Memorial Cruise as a medical precaution. The 12-night cruise which is carrying more than 1,300 passengers, some of whom are relatives of the deceased passengers, is back on track. In addition to two memorial services, many passengers and crew are dressing in period costumes to memorialize the event.
Bomb Threat Baloney
Korean Air has received their fair share of bomb threats this week. On Monday, a flight out of Vancouver to Seoul had a threat called in, was searched for 2 hours and then sent on its way. On Tuesday, the same flight out of Vancouver was diverted to a Canada’s Comox air base on Vancouver Island after the call center received another bomb threat at their U.S. call center 20 minutes after take off. The plane was escorted to the base by two U.S. F-15 fighter jets from Portland, Oregon. Upon landing, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police did a detailed search of the lane and the luggage and the crew and passengers stayed overnight.
Snakes Down Under
Australian Air Frontier pilot Braden Blennerhassett had to channel his inner Samuel L. Jackson when he discovered a snake in the cockpit on Tuesday. On a cargo flight out of Darwin in the Northern territory, Blennerhassett chose to make an emergency landing after spotting a snake between the instrument panel and the dashboard. Once he landed a Parks and Wildlife ranger discovered a green tree frog and a golden tree snake, which is only mildly venomous and can grow to 5 feet.
Coffee Talk won last week’s Icarus Award. See all our nominees in our Icarus archives.
[polldaddy poll=”6135739″]
By Lily J. Kosner for PeterGreenberg.com
Related Links: USA Today, MSNBC, International Business Times, Huffington Post, AP
